Lower lights

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

--Matthew 5:14-16

A long time ago, noted preacher Dwight Moody told his congregation a story about a boat, helplessly rocking and plunging on a stormy, starless night near the Cleveland harbor. The mariners on board could see the lighthouse, but they needed to find their way through the narrow passage in the treacherous rocks that surrounded the harbor. Normally a light on the shore, aligned with the lighthouse, marked the passage to safety. But on this night, the lower lights had gone out.

Finally, the desperate captain decided they had no choice but to proceed into the harbor without the guidance of the lower lights. "With a strong hand and brave heart"—but in almost total darkness—"the old pilot turned the wheel." Tragically, he missed the channel, crashed the boat upon the rocks, and lost the lives of his sailors.

Moody then explained the lesson to be learned from his story:

The Master will take care of the great lighthouse, but He depends on us to keep the lower lights burning.

The storms of life put many around us in peril. They may long to approach the light of "our Father's mercy" but are unsure how to navigate the obstacles in their way. We all know how they feel, because each of us has been lost at sea from time to time.

Most often, God uses us to rescue them. If we can keep the light of faith burning in our hearts, if we align our light with the Light above, we can guide an exhausted mariner safely home. We can be the lower lights that "send a gleam across the wave. Some poor fainting, struggling seaman [we] may rescue, [we] may save."
--Music and the Spoken Work, March 2014

Philip Paul Bliss was inspired by Rev. Moody's sermon and penned a relatively unknown hymn titled "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy."

Brightly beams our Father's mercy
From His lighthouse evermore, 
But to us He gives the keeping 
Of the lights along the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled, 
Loud the angry billows roar; 
Eager eyes are watching, longing 
For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother! 
Some poor sailor, tempest tossed, 
Trying now to make the harbor, 
In the darkness may be lost.

Chorus: 
Let the lower lights be burning, 
Send a gleam across the wave! 
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman 
You may rescue, you may save.